TTC through Donor IUI or Donor IVF or just undecided - all welcome! #makeithappen #loadsofBFPs!!!!

[kwick]

This thread is for anyone trying to conceive... or thinking about doing so through donor IUI or donor IVF. Nothing TMI - feel free to join, we are a lovely group here to support and help keep the cray-cray away!
Here is the link to the previous thread: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/conception/2688511-TTC-through-Donor-IUI-or-Donor-IVF-or-just-undecided-all-welcome-makeithappen

Here is the link to the thread before that: //www.mumsnet.com/Talk/conception/2587046-TTC-through-Donor-IUI-or-Donor-IVF-or-just-undecided-all-welcome

[Pez82]

My clinic basically told me that they can evaluate the egg reserve by counting the follicles during the scan examination.
Based on my age (34) and the number of follicles the doctor saw he said that I probably could save the money and skip the AMH - might be worth checking if this is necessary in your case.

[pickle162]

Ah that's good pez,nah my clinic insists on the amh before they do any treatment but £90 is like a fish in the ocean to the cost of the treatment...
Yes caution complete arse! Thankfully only seen him once and will never chose to again. We can see any of the gps at our practice just whoever has a space really

[taydex]

Sounds like you need a new GP. Are there any others locally that you can switch to? With a little one likely in the future you're going to be seeing them a lot, so definitely worth finding one you don't hate... :)

[CautionHormone]

pez I think my clinic will insist on AMH too. Good to know though, because that's always a question I can ask!

I agree with taydex, pickle. You need someone you can trust and someone who understands you... There's nothing more important than having a good dr!

[kwick]

pez I used to live in Denia!!! In fact planning a quick trip there this month!

caution itchiness still ongoing... I did the blood tests on monday - results in a week.
I was a bit lax with the vit c last week... paying for it now!

pickle why oh why are so many GPS "not fit for purpose"???? I did everything with my clinic too... at time of MC I did thyroid with NHS and it took weeks to get results - somehow "lost/delayed"... I will be more on it this time but with my clinic they ring THE SAME AFTERNOON with the results!!!

caution get blood test price list from your clinic... some of my tests are £250!!!!

I plan on switching to my mum's GP - but not until I have secured Maternity Unit for birth. As I understand it right now I have the choice of UCLH or Whittington; if I change UCLH drops off the list.

God knows what is up with the traffic this evening... taking me fricking ages to get home...

[pickle162]

Most of them are fine but I just don't want to go into it with people that I don't need to-clinic will be fine and as you say kwick I'd rather get the results back quick not wait. I've got my head around using the clinic so happy with that :)

[StorkAhoy]

Hey chaps!

Taydex, congratulations lady! Mya is a little cherub!

Pickle et al, my GP is lovely, but couldn't run any of the tests for me, my clinic did a package lot for a couple of hundred quid.

So yesterday was down reg scan and trial embryo transfer day. It went well! It was weird being there on my own, fully gowned up, legs in stirrups (fighting cramp the whole time), but I got some selfies for the memory book, so there's that...!

And they said I'd be called today to confirm next steps. Well they did, and all was good so I start my next round of meds (gonalF) tonight. I'm booked in for a scan next weds, fri, then the Monday after, with a tentative date for egg retrieval for the 14th or 16th.... eeek!

After a horrible nights sleep thanks to the meds, and my dog being sick I've been up since 4am.. then drove 2hrs to Cambridge for work. I got back from acupuncture at 7pm, and nearly burned dinner. Then the dog threw up again. Then calm, I sat down to work out what to do with my next lot of meds. And FREAKED OUT!!! Same medication, different boxes and different sizes... couldn't work it out at all. So called my friend who did IVF, she didn't know, so called the emergency contact number and thank god for kindly nurses, she sorted me right out and all is well now in my world!

Love to,all, hola new chaps!

[CautionHormone]

kwick that's completely rubbish that your itchiness is still ongoing!! Hopefully your bloods come back fine... did you get any cream from the Drs? My auntie has fungal type rashes all over her body and a cream called Zeroderm worked well for her.
That's crazy about the blood test prices!!! I'll have to get them to email me over a list of prices as I can't find one online anywhere

stork I'm so glad everything went well with your scan & trial embryo transfer! That's got to put your mind at rest a bit, hey?
What a nightmare about your eventful day though - sounds like you really needed your acupuncture appointment to relax! Glad everything's now okay... Take deep breaths!

[hopingandwaiting]

Ah shoes, yes, it really does feel like lots of hurdles! We were building up to 20 week scan as we knew we wanted to find out what we were having. From then on its been a waiting game. Everything is going well so far so no extra scans booked so it's just midwife appointments, which get more frequent from 25 weeks. Oh, and antenatal classes start tomorrow. I would recommend after your 20 week scan to get some parent to be events (mamas & papas and Mothercare) booked so you have those to look forward to and it breaks up the waiting!

Stork, glad things all went well yesterday, and thank goodness for amazing nurses! All of my tests/treatments were done by nurses - never once saw a Dr!

[CautionHormone]

I'm really undecided whether to do the IVF multi discount plan, or whether to do IUI.
The only reason why I'm undecided is because you've got more chance of success with IVF... I'm just worried IUI won't work.

[Pez82]

kwick, such a small world! Enjoy your trip there, I'm really overdue a trip to Madrid too, 2 new babies I am yet to meet there

caution, not that I've tried any yet but IUI is so much less invasive than IVF and it works, don't look too much at the statistics. You could give it a few tries and then move onto IVF. I'm in a similar dilemma but will start with IUI and consider moving onto IVF after 6 tries (I will have to remortgage to do this but I'm trying not to think about this for now)

question for you ladies: are you getting a flu jab? Not sure if it's a good thing to get one...

[StorkAhoy]

caution its a great question, but you are 25 right? what is your AMH telling you? what are your doctors suggesting you do? I went through the exact same thing. I had an Ok, not super AMH level, Im 38, and I had 17 follicles during my first scan. With that in mind they said IUI chance of success was around 5% and IVF 35%. I am fighting a clock that you may not be feeling yet, so for me the choice was clear. IVF, and I chose multi cycle as it cost only £1.5k more for two rounds, so I like having the security blanket of a second go around. And would say this. Injections aren't fun, BUT Im not having to deal with the stress (and I was stressed by it) of tracking my temp and ovulation, which I would have done for a non medicated IUI, I like the fact that its all monitored for me. - for me, I would deal with injections over the stress of possibly missing my ovulation as I used to keep missing my window when I was tracking it previously!

Lots to consider, lots of money too. I decided the bigger outlay, for maximum return was worth it, but you are much younger, so listen to your gut and your nurses!

In other news, the needle for injecting the GonalF is MUCH thicker than the other one I was using. But using an icepack to numb my leg first really worked! Yay!

Pez, hey, Im going to wait till Im pregnant and get one then, I don't want anything in my system while Im doing IVF, and Ive never had one before so don't see an urgency in getting one (touch wood I don't get the lurgy!)

[taydex]

Flu jab. Yes, get it done. I did for the last few years whilst trying and whilst pregnant and would definitely do it again. it didn't appear to affect me getting pregnant.

Also, if/when you get pregnant you don't want to have to be dealing with flu when all you can take is a paracetamol.

[INeedNewShoes]

I've read that flu is risky (due to having a high temperature) in early pregnancy so I would definitely get the flu jab.

On IUI vs IVF, my hormone tests all suggested I had no fertility issues so I decided to try IUI first because it's far less hassle and less invasive. The statistics are skewed because lots of couples with fertility problems try IUI. I'm sure that the stats for pregnancies via IUI in healthy females using donor sperm (which is better quality than the average father's because donors are so young and only their best samples are used) would be far higher than the 20% often quoted.

[kwick]

Gosh stork and I thought I was busy!
Glad all was well with DET and you have your meds sorted.
Your poor doggy
When you say you took some selfies... wow I never thought to do that... I need to have the camera positioned just so to hide my double chin.

pez I never get the flu jab - I do not see the point as it mutates each year. That said I am off work today with the lurgy so maybe I have the wrong strategy.

[CautionHormone]

Thanks ladies. You've put my mind at rest, and maybe it is better to do IUI first because I have no known fertility problems and because I'm only 25, and it's like shoes said - donor sperm is potentially better than the average fathers because the donors are so young.
I'm just worried (selfishly, I guess) I'll pay out loads out for four/five IUIs when it could've worked after 1/2 IVF's, but I guess that's something that I'll never know until I try! I'm going to do medicated IUI, too...
stork, that makes so much sense. I'm not fighting a clock, as such - I am in a way, because if I'm anything like my Mum & Nan I'll go through my menopause at 32! But that's still 7 years away haha. Glad using the ice pack helped with your injections. Nothing worse than injections... Unless you're doing them yourself!!!

Get the flu jab done pez. Pregnant women can have them too, so it's not likely to have an effect on fertility. I've had mine done!

[taydex]

Caution - I would personally recommend IUI if the tests all come back with no known fertility issues. It's far less invasive and given your age too I think you've got a good chance of it working. Don't forget the figures include those 'normal' parents who have fertility issues. If there's no indication that you have any issues then your chances are much higher. Good luck.

[StorkAhoy]

and caution its your money. you can do one IUI, and move onto IVF if you wish, you are in control. For me, there was little point starting with an IUI, for you I can see absolutely why you would. xx

[CautionHormone]

Thanks ladies.
You're totally right. IUI is the best option for me because I have no known fertility issues - but I've just got back from the gynaecologist and he wants to do an operation (a laperoscopy) to make sure I haven't got endometriosis because of my AF's. He worked out my BMI and it's 36.5, and he wants me to lose weight and get it under 35 before he does it, and see him in three months time. If I've lost it, he'll do the surgery then!

[Pez82]

Thanks all, so nice to receive so much advice. I'll go to Boots tomorrow and enquire about the flu jab.

caution, it's good you have a plan and it looks like your gynaecologist is looking after you

kwick I hope you feel better soon. Pretty much everyone is coughing in my office and I'm hoping all the vitamins are helping me fight the germs!

Have a lovely evening all - tomorrow is Friday yay!

[HopingForALittleOne]

caution I had exactly same thoughts as you re paying out for lots of iui could end up more expensive than ivf where chances are higher. I'm 34 have no known fertility issues and thought would have a go at iui and see how I go. Thought of all injections with medicated iui or ivf was push to try iui first. Got my fingers crossed!

[Karendvm]

Hello all! My this thread has flown lately. Pickle I just switched gps because I hated my previous one. He was utterly useless during my miscarriage and was not supportive of me trying to have a baby one my own. It's hard to get a new go here but I managed. Makes me feel less stressed.

stork glad things are going well for you. Hope the injections remain manageable.

[taydex]

Randomly noticed in Tesco the other day that they're offering flu jabs. I think they're about a tenner. Just in case that is convenient for anyone. If you're already up duffed the GP will do for free, not sure if you can go there and pay if not preggers already?

[CautionHormone]

hoping you're doing natural IUI, right? It's exactly like you said... What if IUI doesn't work, when IVF could work on first try!!
At the moment I have no known fertility issues, but upon seeing my gynaecologist yesterday he thinks I could have endometriosis, which of course makes getting pregnant difficult... So he wants to operate, but because my BMI is 36.5, he wants me to lose weight to get it under 35 and then he'll do the surgery. I see him again on the 2nd Feb but I'm thinking now that it's better just to cancel my appointment with Care and wait until after I've had my surgery done and see what the outcome of that is.

[Karendvm]

caution I am sorry to hear that. So many hoops to jump through. Is your consult with care the initial consult? Would it be a good idea just to go and see what they have to say?